Marthe P.

Knowing that I loved plants, my boyfriend Jon rented out the Garfield Park Conservatory in the middle of a snowy Chicago night under the pretense of a Christmas Party with his work. I was totally oblivious and bought the story. We were going to go early while the gardens were still open, but the public had left. The only person there was his friend and co-worker, who was handing out gift bags at the door. We walked through the gardens, surrounded by beautiful flowers. We came to rest at a little bench by a pond of goldfish. Here, I decided to open the gift bag, and it looked suspiciously like a ring box. I was crying as I opened it, and he got down on his knee and asked if I would spend the rest of my life with him. I said yes and tried to comprehend what had just happened! I needed to collect myself before I called my family. As we continued on through the gardens, I walked through a set of double doors and found my parents, my two sisters and his parents and sister, who had all driven over two hours for a catered meal to help us celebrate the occasion. It was such a perfect night!